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Thursday, November 23, 2017

The Black Tiger by Srijan Pal Singh

Title: The Black Tiger

Author: Srijan Pal Singh

Category: Non-fiction (Economics)

Publisher: Fingerprint Publishers

Price: Rs. 163/Free on Kindle Unlimted

Pages: 198

Corruption is
easily one of the biggest challenges that our nation faces; it is a drain on
resources, capability, as well as morale. It is a cancer that eats into
individual and collective values, ethos as well as ability and skills, as
people abandon the process and the basic values & ethics, and choose
to go into a direction where they see
greater personal benefit. Corruption corrodes the national capability, and
creates a cancer, a festering cancer teeming in our midst, living among us as
one of us. That is why, given the nature of the challenge, it is always welcome
if any person contributes to the literature on this vital subject of national
interest.

If
this literature is written {Srijan Pal Singh} by someone who has been in close
proximity to one of the finest leaders we have ever had – a role model, a
person of the caliber of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam; then it creates a hunger and
desire to read and understand – along with the expectation of a strong, data
& fact oriented fair and balanced presentation. It was with this deep
desire and passion that I chose this book; and can honestly state that it has
made a tremendous value addition, as well as made me think. It took me a week
to find the words to review this – and I have so far reviewed 180+ books, all of
them almost on the day I finish reading.

The
book blurb on the back cover calls it fascinating, absorbing, and informative –
you can justifiably add disturbing and stunning to that. This isn’t hyperbole;
for what is very likely the first time, someone has systematically dissected
corruption and placed it in front of the public in a tour-de-force presentation
of mind-blowing bluntness and numbing relentlessness in its indictment of
everyone who is a party to this cancer,
this serious issue in our midst.

This
book is a comprehensive description of corruption, its genesis, and its many
parameters, contributory sources, as well as its many offshoots. It will have
you transfixed in stunned shocked attention as the author systematically bluntly
lays bare the source and the edifice or body of corruption. Let me quote a
small sample of the book in one short sentence to underscore my point : “The unfortunate reality of today is,
inferior men have now filled up a sizeable space in today’s corporate world –
men who know how to make a sale, but not how to follow values”.

The
book is divided into a few chapters, which define the scope of the problem : it
starts with a searing and true indictment of Modern Society, in a chapter
titled Fading Conscience, Unrestrained Greed. The research on The
Psychology of Corruption leaves you numbed with shock & disbelief at the
capability inhumanity and depravity of the Modern Human. It is a chapter that
is burned into my memory, one of the most brutal indictments I have ever read.
Read the book to find out what is was!

The
next chapter is on Governance; this chapter is a mix of
Socio-Psychological realities admixed with Administrative realities, looking at
how corruption starts in an officer, how it grows and is supported by internal
factors – all in the backdrop of a solid sociological study that enables a deep
understanding of the problem. These first two chapters are the finest in the
book, as they enable a deep understanding of corruption and its genesis in our
hierarchical society, and in the backdrop of an all-round drop in the value
belief matrix of our society. This is an important point – keep it in mind.

The
next three chapters are on The Political and Legal system of our
country, an in-depth internal look at the hard truths of our nation’s key
institutions of Governance. Here you will be on familiar territory, but the
content will still draw your breath away. It looks at the need for and the role
of Black Money; and includes a plaintive
lament asked by a legislator– how can I work with integrity and succeed in such
a situation? Nepotism, lack of inner party democracy, etc other factors
have been well supported with facts and solid analysis to buttress them. On the
Legal System – I much prefer the reader reads for himself; I am silent on that.
Suffice it to state that this chapter is very thought-provoking with real
workable solutions and deep insights; not meant for a review article.

The
next two chapters are, alongwith the first two, defining chapters of this landmark
tome :Corporate Corruption, and Ethics and The Media. For the first time
in my memory has someone in the mainstream taken on Corporate India and The
Media in so blunt a fashion; enclosed here is a no holds barred, ruthless and
brutal stripping of these two much vaunted segments of our society. The systematic
takedown spans theCorporate-Political /
Corporate-Corporate / Corporate-Government / Corporate-Employees / Paid News /
Fake News / Cartels or Conflicts of Interest / Greed aspects of the
transactions and relationships in these two sectors.

The
book ends with a chapter on Black Money Stashed Abroad followed by two
heart and soul searching chapters on Righteousness and What Each Of Us Can
Do, wherein an attempt has been made to find a solution of sorts, alongwith
the many many suggestions in the previous chapters. But the question that comes to mind is that we have already seen how
Corporates, Media, Politics, Society is corrupt; we have seen the acceptance of
corruption in society; we have seen how it is hard for people to uphold values
both in our real lives, as well as in the at time terrifying examples given in
the book. In the light of that, will these solutions suffice?

These
points covered pretty much cover all aspects of life; this paints a picture of
corruption as a deep seated endemic issue –reaching into our homes, places of
work, governance – all of it. This we have already seen, as I talked of in my
recent article on Fake News as well. The book suggests a series of eminently
feasible, doable solutions - such as the
Costa Rica Example on the Judiciary; or the example on Corporate Governance. But will these suffice, in the light of the
nature of the problem that is confronting us as a people? Will this bring about
a change in the basic nature of the people? In order to answer that, we have to
understand the nature of the beast: corruption.

Given
its endemic nature and sidespread support as well as systemic tentacles, we
need deep seated reform – true. But not one of the reform steps can check the
problems emanating from peer pressure, task hindrance, ability to deliver,
intra-dependency with – the corrupt people, who are people like you and me,
just like you and me. How do we ensure that we, as a society, can ensure the
righteous get their just rewards in an environment where someone who is
incorruptible is not considered foolish. Where the price of righteousness is a lesser pay, higher risk and ridicule? And
in all points of interaction that an individual has in his daily routine – keep
in mind Governance, Politics, Legal, Corporate and Media is a comprehensive
look at society, leaving nothing? These are the questions we as a nation have to answer and it is a high time now.

In summary, the
book admittedly is a start in the right direction; all of the problems it
identifies are almost spot-on accurate. Some of the suggested solutions are
actually excellent, and workable – provided we find the will for the same. The
straightforward data-based analysis leaves no scope for much debate insofar as
the problem description & diagnosis is concerned. The solutions aspect,
though, is another matter. Take the examples of Property, or Manifestos, or
party whips; are the changes implementable? I fear not. The only place where the book falls marginally short is in corporate
governance and corporate corruption. The problems are systemic, deep-rooted and
endemic, and will need deep change at entire organizational systems and
processes level. The problem identification is incomplete, as it looks at
only one small aspect of Corporate Corruption – the reality is far scarier, and
virtually endemic… all the rest is spot-on, and the author deserves a standing
ovation for putting together this masterpiece…

The Readers Cosmos Rating:4.5/5

About the Author:

Srijan Pal Singh is a gold medallist MBA holder from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, and has worked with the Boston Consulting Group. He is a social entrepreneur who has been involved in studying and evolving sustainable development systems with a thrust on rural areas. From 2009 to 2015, he also worked as an advisor and an officer on special duty to Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam on promoting the concept of energy independence and Providing Urban Amenities in Rural Areas (PURA), and co-authored with him three books, Target 3 Billion (2011), Reignited (2015), and Advantage India (2015). He has been named as one of the Global Leaders of Tomorrow by the St. Gallen Leadership Symposium in Switzerland in 2014. He has also co-authored Smart and Human (2015) with GRK Reddy.

Vishal Kalehas an MBA in Marketing with 16 years of experience in Sales, Marketing & Operations across various industries, with end-to-end specialisation in telecom sales and marketing.

He is an Indian Top Blogger {on ITB Website} for the past 2 years and counting; Nominated in top 5 Political Bloggers by Blogadda in Win-15 & Among the top 200 bloggers worldwide on Invesp. He specialises in deep politico-economic analysis; Books off the beaten track, and a value & fundamentals-based approach towards the Indian Economy, Corporate India - And Especially Indian Colonial History"